I’m taking a quick break from my Women’s History series to steal someone else’s idea. (Once I explain, I don’t think Sojourner Truth and Alice Paul will actually be too disappointed in me.) On her birthday in 2012, Kristin Alvick Graf of the blog How I Got Here made a list of 46 things she had learned. In celebration of my 44th birthday and homage to her, I’ve made a list of 44 things for which I am grateful. Some are good things for everyone, some just to me. Call it like you see it, and please feel free to add to the list.

Here it is, in no particular order.

Kimberly’s 44 Points of Gratitude

Whoever said, “You can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your family,” was only half right. You can’t pick who shares your DNA, but once you grow up, you choose who you stay in touch with. I’m lucky – my DNA matches are worth picking as family.

Some friends become your family, too.

My cat is probably not trying to kill me.

Just scholarly interest, I’m sure.

The beach is only a ten-minute drive from my house, and almost always puts my problems in perspective.

Chocolate is good for you.

Hummingbirds like my hibiscus plant.

Terry Pratchett writes a lot of books.

Whether it’s a boyfriend, a job, or an agent, there really are always more fish in the sea. No matter how much said entity may try to make you think that there are not.

I’m legally allowed to vote in this country.

The corset went out of style long before I was born.

Ditto the bustle.

The girdle went too, by the time I was old enough to worry about it.

Peanut butter and chocolate are a delightfully delicious duo, and they’re only a grocery store away.

You can make fruit salad without melon. I’ve done it.

Massage therapists exist.

My best friend is one of them.

Even in L.A., you can find nature. You may have to look a little harder, but it’s there.

Jennifer Crusie writes a lot, too.

William Goldman wrote The Princess Bride, and Rob Reiner made it into a movie. I do not have to live in a world without Inigo Montoya.

The day starts over every morning. I can too.

Claude Monet’s work is still around.

Someone recorded Ella Fitzgerald.

Mother Teresa was here.

Cell phones come with an OFF button.

Every so often, if I am patient, a bundle of fur-covered love walks over and curls up next to me.

Some people have stayed in my life for a very long time.

Some have not.

There is a possibility that someday I will learn to stop comparing myself to other people.

Even if I don’t, all I have to do is ask, “Are they as cool as Leonardo da Vinci?” Unless they’ve drawn the Mona Lisa, sketched out a helicopter and a tank four hundred years before they were actually invented, and designed a mechanical lion that could walk up to you and pull lilies out of its chest, the answer is no. Next.

A store called Essential Chocolate Desserts operates near me.

It is far enough away that I am not tempted by it every time I walk out the door.

My living room is lavender and green. Yes.

Olive oil is good for me (and my cat).

I am not wealthy enough to be kidnapped.

Tears don’t actually last forever. You can count on it.

Manicures and pedicures are oddly affordable in L.A.

A new sunset debuts every night, in the sky right over me.

The best coffee place in my neighborhood has peachy-pink walls, and that’s a good color for me.

You are never too old to buy the toy you always wanted as a kid.

I live in California, where you can order almost everything with avocado.

A new wonderful friend can enter your life at any time.

Given enough practice, you can sleep right through a cat jumping on the bed in the middle of the night. As a bonus, you get to wake up with a kitty curled up by your toes.

There are more good books than I can ever read, more fascinating people than I can ever meet, and more beautiful views than I can ever see.

…but nobody can stop me from trying.

Wishing all of us a happy new Kimberly year.

Kimberly is also grateful for automatic numbering systems that inform her when she tries to skip #22.

Well said and done as always. Happy 44th birthday. Some former students make you feel old, but you’re only three years younger than me, so this makes me feel very young! Finding what’s good in your life is something we would all do well to remember — every day, birthday or not.

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Kimberly Emerson

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Kimberly Emerson started writing when she was ten, and now she does it full time. She spends forty hours a week at another job, but that's just for show. The characters are always frollicking about in her head